How to Convert Finale Files to PDF Files

By Lee Tea

Updated September 28, 2017

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When writing music in Finale, you might want to send music pieces to friends, family or associates who do not have the Finale program on their computers. Because Finale files can only be opened in Finale itself, you will need to convert the files to a portable document file (PDF). This process takes only a few minutes with the help of a free program called PDF Creator.

Launch Download PDF Creator V. 0.9.8, available for free download at pdfforge.org.

Close PDF Creator. Open Finale, select the file you want to convert to PDF and open the file.

Click the File tab in the Finale program window and select "Print." The PDF Creator will be listed in the print window as a printer. Select it and click "OK." A new window will open and display the PDF version of the Finale file. Save the files, and it can now be sent and viewed in PDF readers such as Adobe Reader and Foxit Reader.

As an alternate method, open PDF Converter and select the .mus file to be converted. Click "Convert" after selecting the Finale file and PDF Converter will convert the file automatically. To do this, you do not need to open Finale as long as you have the file you want to convert saved on your hard drive.

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